Pages

Friday, April 17, 2015

A to Z Blogging Challenge - Ocala

No, I'm not writing about Orlando! Ocala, on the other hand, I have sentimental ties to, the strongest of which is
that my father was born there. Actually born in the house they lived in at the
time, not at the hospital, which was perfectly normal back in 1926!

Downtown Ocala

I grew up visiting my grandmother at her home on the shores
of Lake Kerr right outside of Ocala, and marvel at the things my sister and I
were allowed to do without adults around. My grandmother owned over fifty acres
with a lovely house facing the lake. She had a guest house where we stayed, a
double detached garage, citrus orchard, grapes, bees (my dad kept them), and a large
Camellia garden right next to the house. The dock was located down by the “hunting”
cabin, the first house she and my grandfather built there.

Anyway, I could go on and on about memories, fishing,
swimming, exploring. My sister and I were so lucky! When “Mama Ruth” as we
called her, decided it was time to sell up, she sold most of it to a family who
raised thoroughbred horses. This was during the beginning of the influx of
horse breeders/trainers who have now basically taken over the landscape around
Ocala and made it second only to Kentucky.

A horse "farm"

These horse “farms” are beautiful. I have visited a few and
some offer tours that are full of interesting facts and information.

Silver Springs

Salt Springs

There are
other things to see in the area, Silver Springs (my dad’s first job), Salt
Springs (where my Dad used to catch blue shell crab in his youth), and LOTS of better than average fishing "holes." Come on, send the kids to the springs, bring a rod and settle in. The weather is just fine...

32 comments:

I think kids miss out on so much these days. Being sent out to play and told only to be back by tea-time was the stuff of growing up in the 1950s. No phones (mobile or otherwise), no TV and certainly no computer games. Give me Cowboys & Indians, Cops & Robbers, Hide & Seek, or even simply exploring the local woods any day over Grand Theft Auto or any of the other games that occupy kids so much these days. And I don't recall ever being bored, either.Or am I looking back with rose-tinted glasses?

If you are then I am too! And this was in the 60s into the 70s that my grandmother lived on Lake Kerr. I wasn't ever bored there either. In our home (near Orlando) at the time, we were "allowed" TV only on Sat mornings and for special events. Otherwise the TV was relegated to a corner, unplugged!

I love that picture down the avenue with the trees - so beautiful. When we were kids we used to jump of haystacks into piles of hay - I suspect many modern parents might have apoplexy about that now :) Sounds like your grandmother's place was amazing.TashaTasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

Beautiful. I've been down to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. I think Disney is overrated. I would much rather spend my time at the beach or at one of those horse farms! I can only imagine how wonderful your memories are from such a neat childhood.

Though I was never much of an outdoors kid, I preferred to stay in and read and play games (even before video games, I played - and made up my own - board games and card games). There was outdoors time, especially when we went to visit relatives or to the cottage, but it sure didn't look as pretty as Florida.

Alex, I did, quite a bit actually when I was a teenager, but they also sold it and now there is nothing but a huge field and trees there. Nothing, not even the house. I found it one day a few years ago when I went looking strictly from my memory. They want to turn it into a "subdivison" or whatever it is they call that nowadays. At least a lot of the giant oaks by the waters edge are still there...

I took my sons to Kentucky to visit the Horse Farm there. Never knew they had one in Ocala. I've always wished I had learned to ride. Should have done it when the riding school was just down the street from where I currently live.

Hi Lisa - how very sad your grandmother sold for one, secondly that now the house and area has been 'flattened' as such - sounds ominous to me. It looks stunning countryside and your descriptions sounded the idyllic childhood so many of us had back in the 50s, 60s and 70s ... as Keith infers ... the Springs look amazing too .. Ocala - a place to visit and look around ... happy memories for you and making me think of our home .. cheers Hilary

This looks like a beautiful area. Aren't memories special? No one can take them away. The town looks pretty and quite active which is nice. The one picture with all the trees over the road is so stunning and peaceful it looks right out of a movie.

My grandparents used to take me and my brothers to Florida every year! We would drive down from Michigan. Those are some wonderful memories. I'm pretty sure we stayed in Ocala on the way down to Fort Myers but we didn't really get to explore. Beautiful pictures.

The place where your father was born sounds like a dream. I grew up in Georgia, and we always vacationed in Florida, I have teen memories of Daytona and Jacksonville. We took our daughters there in 2005 for a family vacation which included Orlando and NASA, Atlanta and Daytona. Beautiful memories, and my best crit pal lives in Florida, too!

Wow.... with memories like that, no wonder Orlando doesn't hold a light of Ocala... what an amazing place to visit and grow up.... (and you even know how lucky you guys were, which makes it that more special, I'm sure:)

My friends and his (at the time) wife, never believed in hospitals either. Both of their kids were born at home. Their youngest was born when they lived in the apartment above me, where I still live. Thanks for sharing the photos and the tales. Sounds like you had a fun childhood.

It's amazing the difference between what kids are allowed to do now and what we used to do. There was that mom who was arrested for letting her kid walk to school...it's crazy. How fun that you got to explore such a wonderful place so thoroughly!

Thank you so much for commenting on my blog. I may not always be able to respond to the comments you leave, HOWEVER, I will ALWAYS go to your blog and leave a comment myself! Who knows, I might even subscribe to your blog like you might subscribe to mine! Appreciate you dropping by.